Abstract

The prevention of diseases in fish is important for both animal welfare and farm productivity. In Cameroon, information related to the origin of infections in farmed fish is scarce. This study aims to assess the farming practices influencing the Risk Level of Fish Infections (RLFI) for a sustainable aquaculture in Wouri Division. A total of 35 farms were audited from March to May 2022 using “snow ball” technique, on-farms observations and face-to face interview-based questionnaire. The determination of the RLFI was based on the Compliance Rate (CR) of biosecurity measures. The results showed that the intensive production system (87.87%) was the most practiced followed by the semi-intensive system (12.13%). Overall, the CR was intermediate (40.52±14.70%) corresponding to a moderate  RLFI and significantly higher on nursery farms (48.81±12.44%) followed by nursery + grow-out (47.92±13.63%) and grow-out (35.41±14.02%) farms. No farm recorded a minor RLFI. The CR was insignificantly higher in intensive system (42.09±14.75%) than in semi-intensive system (29.17 ±8.10%) and not affected by the culture facilities. A positive, strong and significant relationship was found between the fishing method, quarantine of new fish and the CR. The government should financially and technically empower fish farmers in biosecurity practices for optimum fish production.